Kenai Golf Report

Winding into golf in August

Posted: Wednesday, August 08, 2001

By Rita Botelho

I hear the mowers, I hear the weed whackers as they hone and trim the Kenai Golf Course for August golfing. There are many golfing events coming up soon and the course is looking green and the greens are taking shape.

I see the golfers working harder on their games and playing more often to prepare for the upcoming events.

Mighty Duo Night

Monday evening there was a terrific showing of golfing duos playing for the weekly title. The event is for any duo (male and female) wanting to golf with other teams. The awards go to the duo with the fewest combined putts for the nine holes. Each week there is a different "mystery hole" or two. The duo with the lowest score for that particular hole gets a piece of the bacon.

This week the duo with the fewest combined putts was the Eddie and Teresa Sibolboro team. The team with the lowest combined score on No. 3 was the team of Doug and Patty Rome. The team with the lowest combined score on No. 5 was the team of Don and Jan Erwin.

It was great to have Dave and Shelley Ramsey, Jerry and Susan May, Cliff and Kathy Heus, Judy Buffington and Tom Vincent and the Roger and Lynn Jones teams all participating in the weekly event.

Buzz Rome was delighted with Patty's chip-in and it caused quit a stir with the duo. Judy Buffington had her ball ride the rail of the bridge under construction. Good to know there is another way to make it across the creek.

Hope to see many more of those mighty duos show up for the weekly Monday event.

Ladies Night

Ladies night is always on Tuesday evening. It starts at 6 p.m. All ladies are invited to play. The last few weeks the attendance has been down so the ladies are making a plea to all gals that want to play golf to join the event. It makes no difference what your skill level. It is a no-pressure, just-for-fun kind of an evening.

Kenai Cup

The Kenai Cup winners for the ninth week of cup play on the front nine were the Rich Edwards-Noel Widmayer team, the Jerry Norris-Richard Martin team, the Jim Legner-Craig Jung team, the Dave Ramsey-Ed Marsh team and the Jack Evans-Bruce Galloway team.

The winners for the ninth week of play on the back nine were the Tom Allison-Mark Azzara team, the Eldon Harvey-Ryan Harvey team, the Felix Martinez-Pam Martinez team and the Don Morgan-Dale Sandahl team. There was a draw between the Doug Jung-Dustin Jung team and the Dick Morgan-Carol Morgan team.

Men's Night

Thursday night was "Big Thursday" and there were three teams who had a chip-off for second place. Each team entered the clubhouse with 1-under-par.

However, the team that placed first with 2-under and took the top honors included Bob Bird, Dave Fairchild and Jerry Norris.

The team that took second place due to the chip of Larry Grant also included Art McComsey and Kevin Stalker.

The slugger of the week was Brian Lowe with the longest drive on No. 7. Closest to the pin on No. 5 was Ron Tracy with 39 feet, 4 inches. Closest to the pin on No. 9 was Bob Bird with 20 feet, 9 inches.

There were no "pure birds" this week so there will be a carry-over for that feat to the next men's night.

Kenai Contractors

Saturday, the Kenai Contractors will have their annual tournament with an 18-hole scramble. Tee times start at 7:30 a.m. It is always a great tourney with great numbers playing in the "make your own team" tournament. The weather forecaster is hoping to help out with some great weather. There will be lots of golfing, food, fun, birdies, pars and maybe even an eagle or two.

Kenai Chrysler Open

The Kenai Chrysler Pro Am and Kenai Chrysler Open will be Aug. 16, 17, 18 and 19. It might be wise to get your applications in as soon as possible.

It seems the golfers in Kenai are conditioned to not having deadlines for tournaments. It is very difficult to plan a tournament not knowing how many will be playing in the event, so give the committee a break and sign up as soon as possible.

The ladies who generally play in the Kenai Open are encouraged to talk other ladies into playing in the tournament. Yours truly heard that if 10 ladies do not sign up to play in the tournament, the ladies division will be dropped from future Kenai Chrysler Open tournaments. I would not want that to happen.

The event will lure some pro golfers to the area. It also will have the local golfers testing their skills against fellow golfers. It is a chance to watch some great golf. It also gives local golfers a chance to play with the pros in the Pro Am part of the tourney.

Time is running out, so get your applications in as soon as possible.

Foolish Caddy

I read Ian Woosnam fired his caddy two weeks after forgiving him for not counting the clubs in his bag and costing Woosnam two penalty strokes in the British Open for having more than 14 clubs in the bag.

Woosnam's caddy overslept and missed the tee time in the Scandinavian Masters. Club officials had to break into Woosnam's locker to get his shoes while his caddy was still in bed.

Closing Thoughts

May your drives be long and land in the middle of the fairway. May your irons be accurate and get you to the greens. May your putts be dead on and land in the cups. May your days on the course be enjoyable.